While traditional environmental management approaches have made significant improvements to the ecosystem, they nonetheless have various shortcomings. For example, current federal guidelines require developers of wetlands to provide replacement wetlands (known as wetlands “credits”) on an acre per acre basis. Unfortunately, this system often does not result in long-term ecological success because replacement wetlands typically are not “in-kind”; that is, the replacement wetlands are not similar to the types of wetlands filled, primarily because the type and extent of the habitat types and species can vary greatly between two areas.
Recently, a new approach to wetlands management, called “wetlands mitigation banking,” has been instituted in a number of jurisdictions. Under this approach, a land developer or a state Department of Transportation generates credits by developing or restoring wetlands. The credits are certified by the Army Corp of Engineers and then deposited in a “bank account” that can be drawn upon for future development. Mitigation banking offers greater oversight and greater incentive to generate credits, and therefore can increase the chances of ecological success. However, the credit/debit system is based on the arbitrary notion that filled wetlands can be replaced or restored on an acre per acre basis.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a system for quantifying or assigning values to habitats and/or species for use in mitigation banking programs and other conservation programs to more accurately determine the impact of development and the offsets needed to ensure ecological success.